NCIS (2003–…): Season 6, Episode 14 - Love & War - full transcript

Oh, no...

Oh, my God...

What the hell?

Anyone there?

What?

What the hell's going on here, man?

Where are my keys?

Anyone there?

Hello?!

NCIS Season 6 Episode 14
Love & War

I already rebooted the system,
Frank,

- twice.
- Four hours.

That is how long
I waited for your cable repairman.

- You've already said it.
- Four hours!

I will not reboot again.
I will never reboot it again!

Reschedule?
So you can waste another Saturday?

Just admit you have no idea
how to fix the problem, and

then we can both get on
with our lives.

Someone will die today.

Morning, team.

- "Morning"?
- "Team"?

You are in a particularly
good mood today, McGee.

Yeah, and I don't like it.
What gives?

I had a good weekend.

I had a very good weekend.

- Golden Girls marathon?
- No, Tony, actually, I met someone.

- What's his name?
- Her name is Claire.

She is a computer programmer.

Where did you meet?

Well, actually, we... we haven't met
yet in person. We met online.

Of course, you did.

Go figure.

So when is the first date?

Hopefully, as soon as possible.
This girl, Ziva, she's perfect.

She's gorgeous, she thinks
I'm hysterical and

she is a level 5 sorceress.

- Oh, God!
- What?

No!

The sadness when I hear you talk
like this. You don't know who these

people are. It could be a 45-year-old
overweight man in Minnesota.

I mean, like you said,
you two haven't even met yet.

What part of "level 5 sorceress"
don't you understand?

All of it.

Boss, to be a level 5 sorceress,
you have to conquer...

- Not important.
- No.

But we got
a missing Navy Captain who is.

Office of Naval Intelligence
called it in.

Where are you going?

Yeah, didn't you say that...

Missing person, DiNozzo.
Hasn't been 48 hours.

So it is not in
our jurisdiction yet.

No.

But you'd like us
to make a few calls.

We certainly would.

Agent Gibbs.

We spoke on the phone.

This is Rebecca.

Captain Jennings' daughter.

And you are?

Kevin Nelson, her fianc?.

- Ex-fianc?.
- This is pointless.

I hope so.

Becky's dad was supposed to meet us
last night for dinner at Mangiamo's,

- but he never showed.
- You know why he never showed.

Becky, please.

They got into a fight yesterday.

Yeah, yesterday and...

the day before yesterday, and...
the day before that.

About?

My father has his ideas about
how I should be living my life.

Most fathers do.

He came by yesterday morning.

We got into a fight,
so now he's trying to prove a point.

By disappearing?

Not answering his cell?
Hell of a point.

Kevin, it's been one day.

And you're ready to call out
the National Guard. Relax.

Becky, maybe you've forgotten:

you're all he has.

Maybe I've forgotten?

Thanks for the coffee.

She does not seem
to share your concern.

Trust me, she's worried.

She's got a funny way of showing it.

You have to understand, she lost her
mother less than a year ago to cancer.

The idea that something
may have happened to her father...

You are a very caring...

ex-fianc?.

She'd do the same for me.

Found a body in Shenandoah. Matches
the description of Captain Jennings.

Was just getting ready to call in our
forensic team when I spotted your BOLO.

Who found the body?

A couple of kids
in one of our warming huts.

- Or as they like to call 'em...
- Love shacks.

- How'd you know?
- Lucky guess.

Get a lot of kids up here.

Oh, to be young again.

Well, it has been a while
since we've had a murder up here.

How do you know it's a murder?

Ain't a suicide.
That's for sure.

Will be hard for Rebecca
to hear her father is dead.

But this...

Reminiscent of a rather dark period
in English history.

Did you know that the preferred
method of punishment for

treason was to be hung,
drawn and quartered.

They would hang
the victims by the neck,

then they were taken
from the scaffold

before they could have the freedom
of death and disemboweled.

Just like this chap.

Except, unlike him, they would hack them
into four "quarters"

and drag them through the streets,

their heads stuck on pikestaffs.

Nice story, Ducky.

Yes, well, I did say it was dark.

And, thankfully, ancient history.

Not so ancient, Duck.

Decent tire track.

I got things under control. Why don't
you head down to the hut, help Gibbs.

Nah, it's a bit small down there.
Wouldn't want things getting cramped.

Right. Got it.

Chicken!

What?

Five years,

you still can't handle
the bloodbaths, can you?

Yeah, that's what it is.

Look, I told you before,
I had a good weekend,

I'm just trying to stay
in the nice head space.

Carla.

Claire.

Whatever.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

Women are trouble.
Haven't you learned anything from me?

Yeah.
Not to go on undercover dates with

a doctor whose father
is the world's biggest arms dealer.

That's low, Probie.

And not to loan your friends money.
You still owe me 40 bucks.

Don't change the subject.
What are you talking about?

I understand what's going on here:
you're jealous.

You haven't had a date in a few weeks.
It's okay.

Me, jealous of the Elf Lord?

I think you have me confused
with someone who's far less awesome.

Level 5 sorceress.

This abdominal mutilation
was done postmortem.

Note the lack of bleeding

along the dermis here,

unlike this wound,
which shows signs of coagulation.

Happened at least one hour prior.

The killer snuck up behind him.
Knocked him unconscious.

Brought him here, killed him.

Well, the lack of defensive wounds
would support that theory.

Ducky, that blood
seems unusually red.

Good eye, Officer David.

Erythema usually suggests

that the blood is saturated
with carboxyhemoglobin.

Carbon monoxide.

Yeah, possibly from the stove
in this confined space.

Perhaps the cause of death,
perhaps not.

And the rest of it?

Well, I think
we can rule out organ harvesting.

Risk of infection is much too high.

Take a look at this.

Oh, boy.

- Problem?
- Waiting for you to find out.

The man had a pentagram on his back.
That does not make him possessed.

Fear the house, Ziva.

Always fear the house.

I will keep my eyes open
for any poltergeists.

Not the ghosts I'm worried about...

it's the pentagram-happy
dungeon-building freaks

that always live
in wholesome places like this.

Then I will keep my eyes open
for any dungeons.

They looked happy.

It is nice when a couple
has so much in common,

like McGee
and his new sorceress friend.

Oh, yeah,

I was going to talk
to you about that.

It's kind of funny, actually.

Let's see.

How do I put this delicately?

She've...

- she's not real?
- You did not.

I did.

I was bored.
It was late.

I just watched Weird Science.

Next thing I knew, I was building
a fake online profile and...

I'm in with McGee.

He really likes her.
Tony, you have to tell him.

I know.

It's actually kind of flattering...
in a creepy way.

- What did you think would happen?
- I didn't know.

The flaw in the plan...

was the plan.
But I got another plan to end it.

- Which is?
- You've ever see Fatal Attraction.

Poltergeist is behind me, isn't it?

Can I help you?

NCIS.

- Who are you?
- Adrianna Lopez.

I live here. I clean.
I stay in the guest house.

Did you find Mr. Thomas?

I'm afraid...

Captain Jennings is dead.

How?

He was murdered.

Murdered?
Dios mio, por que?

No lo se.

Pero lo vamos a investigar.

Excuse me.

Do you know where that goes?

Mr. Thomas says no one
goes down there.

I don't think he'll mind.

Ziva?

I'm betting satanic dungeon.

Hi, there.

I'm Beary Smyles.

Would you like me
to sing you a song?

Beary frickin' Smyles.

Christmas 1989,
every kid wanted one of these.

- Including you, McGee?
- Oh, yeah.

But Beary was sold out everywhere.

I was crushed.

You were 13.

I was 12.

My parents couldn't find Beary so...

I decided to take
the bull by the horns.

I designed my own.

I used my dad's old tape recorder
and a Winnie the Pooh bear.

Called him "Pooh 2.0".

And 15 short years later,
you lost your virginity.

- DiNozzo?
- Hey, Boss.

I was just telling the guys that...

Captain Jennings' car
was found off Route 19.

It was abandoned.
It's being towed in.

Boss, still working
on the captain's laptop,

but I was able
to access his voicemail.

This little gem was left two days ago
by his daughter, Rebecca.

Hey, Dad, it's Becky.

I thought long and hard about what you
said and I decided that you're right.

I need to pull my life together.

So, from now on, I'm going
to ignore my family,

get what I want
through manipulation,

and I'm gonna leave home for weeks
at the drop of a hat, and that way,

I can be exactly like you.

Okay, see you at dinner tonight.

If you show...

- Daddy's little girl.
- Speaking of Daddy.

Captain Thomas Jennings works
in the counterespionage lab

at the Office of Naval Intelligence.
One of those...

brainiacs, you know,
who designs all their nifty whiz bangs.

"Whiz bangs?"

Whiz bangs, you know.

Sort of like Q in the Bond films.

Come on, DiNozzo.

For the last two years,
despite losing his wife to cancer,

Captain Jennings has been working
18 hours a day, seven days a week

that is, when he's actually in town.

Jennings' Naval travel logs
show that

he departed on international flights
once a month.

However, according to arrival logs,
he never made it to his destinations.

Which begs the question.

Where'd he really go?

Scalpel.

Hemostats.

Screwdriver.

Thank you, Gibbs, RN.

Come to play doctor?
Caf-POW!

What do you got, Abbs?

1989's Christmas nightmare
for every parent.

The unattainable...

Beary Smyles.

My dad waited in line

two hours for one on Black Friday.

Six...

Christmas Eve...

You notice the factory seals
are broken. So...

Somebody's been inside.

Yep, and after Dr. Abby finishes
her exploratory surgery,

she'll tell us why.

Tire tracks.

A man on a mission.
I like it.

Unfortunately, I'm still working

on finding the exact make
and model of said tires.

- And the...
- Pentagram.

It's not what you think.

Contrary to popular belief,
a satanic pentagram

has an elongated point.

This pentagram is
geometrically perfect.

Historically, pentagrams have been used
to symbolize all kinds of things.

- How about this one?
- Good question.

I'm still working on it.

- So, basically, you've got nothing.
- I've spoiled you, Gibbs.

You can't get an answer every time
you come down here, but next time

- I will have something.
- Next time you'll have a Caf-POW!

Oh, Captain, Captain...

disembowelment,
blunt-force trauma and a pentagram.

You, my friend,
are as mysterious as they come.

I was hoping
you'd already figured him out, Duck.

Well, the captain was
in good physical condition.

No sign of arteriosclerosis

or any other degenerative disease.

However, in the lining
of his duodenum,

I found traces
of green discoloration,

possibly a reaction
to a tetracycline-based antibiotic.

You got a cause of death?

The captain's skull showed
additional signs of blunt-force trauma.

At first glance I thought
that might be the cause of death.

How about second glance?

Well, as usual, it proved to be
more reliable than the first.

Abby's tox screen

confirmed
that the captain was exposed

to carbon monoxide at levels

that would almost
certainly have proved fatal.

Well, CO killed him.

Carving the turkey came later.

Yes, and half an hour after

the pentagram was imprinted
on his back.

You know, I don't believe
this is the work of satanists.

Really? You been chatting with Abby,
have you, Duck?

Well, although these wounds may appear
to be random, they're not.

I found a pattern.

Whoever sliced Captain Jennings open

wasn't trying
to kill or torture him.

They were looking for something.

Hi, there. I'm Beary Smyles.

You're my best friend, McGee.

Thank you, Beary.

You're very welcome.

All right, one more time and I'm gonna
rip that bear's head off again!

Gear up, DiNozzo.

Got a body at Quantico.

- Don't mess with me.
- That bear sounds very familiar.

You think, David?

DiNozzo, bag and tag.

David, witness statements.

McGee,

I ever tell you
how brilliant you are?

Oh, Beary.

I love you, McGee.

Sorry, boss.

Talk to me.

You, McGee.

Well, we... know why Captain Jennings
was playing with dolls.

He was using the primitive
electronics in Beary

here to build
an old-school "phreak box".

- In English.
- A phreak box.

That's a tool that hackers
used to use in the '80s

to communicate remotely
with computer systems.

What?

Come on, guys.
War Games, Sneakers, Hackers?

Very young Angelina Jolie in that.

Why did Jennings use
a child's toy to build one?

Well, my guess is,
that the technology in Beary is so old,

modern systems aren't designed
to defend against it.

- He's using it to hack something.
- What?

I'm not sure what he's specifically

after yet, but I do know
who he's targeting.

The IP addresses are assigned
to Homeland Security's mainframe.

We also found a series of encrypted
e-mails on Jennings' laptop.

Can't read them.
And we don't know their destination.

But get this:

every time Jennings goes on
one of his "overseas business trips",

the e-mails stop.

- He's meeting his contact.
- Contact for what?

He's hacking into Homeland Security.
He's flying all over the country.

- Doubt they're playing Parcheesi.
- DiNozzo, David...

Talk to Jennings' boss.
On it, Boss.

- Yeah, Gibbs.
- Now I've got something for you.

Great, be right there, Abs.

So,

how's it going
with your other special friend?

Claire...

she's gotten a bit clingy.

I didn't respond to an e-mail of hers
right away, and she freaked out.

Starts going on about how computers
are destroying civilization,

which is really weird
because she's a computer programmer.

Kick her to the curb.

I think I'm gonna give her
another shot.

We connected, you know?

And it's not every day
that you find a...

Level 5 sorceress.

I know...

- You have to tell him the truth.
- Maybe.

Not until I'm absolutely sure
lying won't work.

Tell me what you see, Gibbs.

- A tire.
- It's not just any tire.

It's a retro-edition radial P-396.

An exact match to the tracks
that were at the crime scene.

And it was especially made
for this bad boy.

Now tell me what you see.

'72 Buick Skylark.

Look closer.

- Pentagram.
- It's an aftermarket hub cap.

There's a small company
in Texas that sold them.

Okay, check this out.

Wait for it...

- Perfect match.
- When I saw that,

I ran a full hydrocarbon panel
on Jennings' blood.

The carbon monoxide
in his tissue had traces

of naphthalenes
and polycyclic aromatics.

- Car exhaust.
- Yeah.

The CO poisoning came
from the car, Gibbs.

Jennings had to be in the trunk!

And the imprint on his back,

- He was lying on the spare.
- He choked on the exhaust.

He died in the trunk.

And then he was carried
to the shack where he was...

- sliced and diced.
- Abby...

'72 Skylark.

Custom hubcaps.
I already told Tony to put out a BOLO.

I was gonna say: "Nice job".

Obviously not nice enough.

Fridge.

I don't know how you did that
and I don't care.

Thank you, Gibbs!

So, what's a nice girl like you
doing at a top-secret,

government counterespionage
gadget lab like this?

Bet that sounded
better in your head.

No, not really.
I like your glasses.

Let it go, Tony.

I can't.

Let me guess.
Hidden camera?

Infrared?
X- ray vision?

I'm Dr. Daniel's assistant,
Agent DiNozzo.

I make copies, get coffee.
I don't play with the toys.

That's my job.

Dr. Rod Daniels.

You must be Officer David
and you are...

Very Special Agent Tony DiNozzo.

- Excuse me.
- Oh, neat.

Acoustic bug in the stapler?

I assume you'll want to take
a look at Captain Jennings' office?

Eventually, yes.

I just want to let you know,

regardless of what your investigation
has uncovered

or what you discover here...

Thomas Jennings was
an honorable man and a patriot.

So, we're gonna find something here?

I'm obligated to inform you
that we have had a...

breach.

Specifically?

A multithreaded mini-processor

that enables our moles
to access enemy computer systems.

We call it "Keyhole".

This is a mock-up.

USB-compatible.

Disguised as a toothpaste cap.

Easy to get through Customs.

Nice!

It was nice.

It's missing and it's the last thing
you'd want misplaced,

but I assure you Jennings
had nothing to do with it, he was...

- We know, a patriot.
- Yes.

And he was heavily searched every time
he left the lab area, just as I am,

and just as you two will be.

So, there's simply no way he could
have gotten anything out of here.

You think Jennings swallowed it?

It is the only way he could have
gotten it out of the lab.

If it was stuck in his stomach,

that'd explain the green goop
that Ducky found in his gut.

All right, so he stole it.
Then what?

We got a missing hi-tech
gizmo called "Keyhole", right?

Encrypted e-mails
to some mystery contact overseas.

Maybe he was selling it.

Jennings must have arranged
to meet with his contact here.

But they didn't want to wait
for nature to take its course.

So they went dumpster diving
in his belly instead.

Guys must have really been
in a rush.

- Or decided they didn't want to pay.
- Yeah.

Who is they?

Thanks.

Let's find out.

BOLO just came back
on the '72 Buick Skylark.

I'll call Gibbs.

Nice rims.

Another meet?

Cockpit's empty.

Must be inside.

DiNozzo, McGee,

around back.

Ziva, you're with me.

Boss, Brandon Sykes, 22.

Small-time drifter
with a big-time rap sheet.

Larceny, grand theft auto,

dealing, even suspected
of a homicide over an iPod.

Doesn't exactly scream espionage.

- Hired gun.
- Hired by who?

"Whom", Tony.
"Who" is the nominative case.

"Whom" always follows a preposition.

- Traffic bad?
- Dreadful.

I'm having a better day
than this poor young man.

Jumped or pushed?

We rushed the warehouse... empty.

Found signs of a struggle
on the roof, though.

Yeah, well,
he has defensive wounds on his hands.

Guess we're going with pushed.

Okay, thanks.

Vehicle is registered to Sykes.

That places him at the warming hut
where Captain Jennings was killed.

I doubt he was sightseeing.

So Sykes kills the captain, takes
Keyhole from him, then comes here.

Probably to make the delivery
to whomever hired him.

Didn't work out so well.

Someone is cleaning up
their loose ends.

Rebecca's not coming.

So she sends her ex-fianc??

Not ex.
We're back together.

I'm not sure if it's the right thing,
but she needs me.

Well, I need her to look
at some photos.

I know. But staring at the face
of her father's killer

isn't something she's up for
at the moment.

She asked if I could pick them up
and bring them to her.

It doesn't work that way.

This isn't easy for her,
Agent Gibbs.

If it wasn't necessary,
I wouldn't ask.

Fingerprints matched
a partial found in the warming hut.

You know him?

No. Who is he?

I was hoping Rebecca would tell me.

She wants to help, believe me.

But she's in a very bad place
right now.

Heck, she took me back.

Just give her some time.

For Rebecca.

When she's ready.

Rebecca Jennings,
22, native of Virginia.

Recently graduated
from Indiana University,

works part-time at a pet store.

No criminal record, unless you count
a misdemeanor for disturbing the peace.

She tossed her fianc?'s clothes out

a second-story window.
I hate it when that happens.

She's not exactly
a criminal mastermind.

Or the first family member
to not want to identify a killer.

- Think she knows what Daddy was into?
- She knows something.

Talk to her friends,
co-workers, everyone.

- Why don't we just bring her in?
- What are we gonna put on the warrant,

Gibbs' gut?

Not that that wouldn't be valid.
I'm sure that...

Just talk to her friends.
She'll come to us.

So much for my date tonight.

What are you doing?
So you giving the psycho another chance?

Well, I was.
I guess now I got to cancel.

What is that silliness?!

Sorry.

Ziva and I will cover
the interviews for you.

That is awfully
un-Tony of you, Tony.

Just doing you a solid, Probie.

Because you having a date
is about as rare as me not having one.

Am I a suspect, Agent Gibbs?

- Sit down.
- Answer the question, please.

Why are you investigating me?

- It's my job.
- Are you serious?

Do you think
that I had something to do with...

Is that him?

Who is he?

- You don't know?
- No, I don't.

- But you know something.
- Yeah.

I know that my father was murdered,
and you have no idea why.

- And you don't either?
- I told you, I don't.

You left him a message complaining
about his long trips.

No idea where he's been going?

None.

Are you close to your father?

Getting there.

When my mom died...

I was devastated.

But I knew that I would be okay.

I knew that I would make it.

But this time...

I'm not sure.

I mean, don't get me wrong. I loved
my mom, I loved her more than anything.

But he's my daddy.

And now I have
no one left in my life.

Kevin.

I told him I wanted
to try to work things out,

but our last engagement ended
with me...

- Throwing his clothes out the window.
- You heard about that?

He deserved it.

But when my mom died,
Kevin was there for me.

I just don't think I can make it
through something like this again.

I don't have it in me.

Yeah, you do.

Might take you a while to find,
but you do.

- Boss, hey, I got something here.
- McGee, you're working late.

Yeah, actually, I... had a date tonight,
and she didn't show.

So, I, really, I kind of ended up
in the area and I thought I'd...

- Jeez, McGee.
- Sorry.

Jennings' mystery e-mails,

I was able to partially decrypt
the routing information in the header.

- That's a good thing, right?
- Oh, yeah!

Allowed me to ID the NIC address
on the recipient's computer.

It's a laptop,
and it's in use right now.

- Where?
- Captain Jennings' house.

It's like I said,
it's always the maid.

No. You have said it is always
the janitor or the butler

or anyone assigned
to work in Abby's lab.

But you have never once said "maid".

Anyone ever tell you
your memory can be a real buzz kill?

Who are you?

Adrianna Lopez.

I worked for Mr. Thomas.

Captain Jennings' credit card record

shows weekly payments
to an outside maid service.

They never heard of you.

Fact is, no one has.

Six weeks ago,
you somehow got a green card.

Before that,
there's no record of you at all.

Who do you think she's working for?
Chinese? Russians?

Cubans.
After all, she is Cuban.

That's way too obvious.
Haven't I taught you anything?

Where'd you meet Captain Jennings?

In Cuba.

When?

- Six months ago.
- You recruited him?

Did I recruit... what...?

Paid him to steal classified
technologies,

- like Keyhole.
- No, wait.

- Then you had him killed.
- No!

- You used him!
- I loved him!

Maybe it was the butler.

Thomas was in Cuba
to oversee the installation

of a new radar at the American base.

He had just lost his wife.

I had just lost my husband.

He would come down
to see me whenever he could.

But it wasn't easy.

There are restrictions.

And with his job,
it would have been impossible.

But he was able to hide
where he was going.

Eventually, he got me a green card.

And I came here.

To pretend to be his maid?

We lied because Thomas didn't want
his daughter to know about us.

Not yet. He thought it was too soon.

And after he died,
you kept lying. Why?

I did what I thought
Thomas would want me to.

She's hiding something.

I have posed as a girlfriend
many times to get what I needed.

She pretended to be
Captain Jennings' girlfriend.

Convinced him
to steal the missing gizmo.

There's one problem with that, Ziva.
That's gizmo is not missing anymore.

I just spoke with Dr. Daniels
at the ONI Lab.

- They found Keyhole.
- They "found" it?

- Where, under a couch?
- Subfloor.

Jennings never tried
to get Keyhole out of the lab.

He set it up for remote access.

Dialed in from his basement,
used it to hack the ICE database,

- get his girlfriend a green card.
- That's what she was hiding.

Jennings gamed the system for her.

No mystery handler.

No espionage.

So why in the hell was
Thomas Jennings filleted?

I liked this case better
when we had a motive.

- Yeah, then find one, DiNozzo.
- Easier said than done, boss.

We're, trying to make a connection
between Jennings and his killer.

Brandon Sykes.
But we hit a dead end.

- No pun intended.
- Actually, it was.

- In that case, nicely done.
- Focus on Sykes.

Find his killer,
we'll find our motive. Ziva.

I will talk to Sykes' parole officer.
Get a list of associates.

Sykes moved around a lot, but
I think I have a lead on his apartment.

- Take Tony with you.
- You mean: "Tony, take McGee".

'cause I'm a senior field agent,
which... that's not important.

- Give me...
- Come on, Tony.

I'm going to let you play
with the siren.

Heard you got stood up
last night, Probie.

She never even call.

That ends that?

Maybe.

"Maybe"?

Know when to fold 'em, McGee.

NCIS, open up.

This girl's not worth it.

Trust me.

Tony, I'm not like you.

It's not that easy
for me to meet women.

Never has been.

That's why I was hoping
this girl might be...

you know...

You'll find your girl.

Thought I did.

NCIS.

Federal agents.

I love trashed apartments.

Not my apartment.
I like my apartment pristine.

The floors clean and the furniture
dusted, and the casket shined and...

Trashed apartments. Okay, first thing
that I noticed is that it's trashed.

Good eye.

No. I mean, like, really trashed.

There was a microscopic layer

of a silicon carbide covering
pretty much the entire crime scene.

Whoever trashed his apartment,

went banzai on his dinner plates
with a hammer.

- They were not looking for anything.
- No, they just wanted to trash it.

And I know who "they" is.

I pulled a partial print off the TV set
that was thrown into the bathtub.

Meet our rock star.

Hell, yeah, I did it!

I went over to that Jackass' place
and I broke everything in sight.

- That was easy.
- It was all my stuff anyway.

You think that dumb ass
could afford real plates?

When I met the guy,
he had a can opener and a plastic fork.

The guy's a loser,
like all the rest of them.

Sure I've had it. I'm done.

So is Sykes. He's dead.

"Dead"?

- How?
- Murdered yesterday afternoon.

- And you think I did it?
- Did you?

I might have, if he'd had been home.

But he wasn't, and I was at work
until 8:00 last night, check the logs.

How'd your boyfriend
know Captain Jennings?

He didn't.

You think Brandon
killed the captain?

I don't think. I know.

I'm...

I brought him to the Christmas party
last year, but

he spent the whole night
in the parking lot throwing up.

- Like I said, a real winner.
- That why you trashed his place?

I trashed his place
because he proposed.

I'll take that as a "no".

Like everything else in Brandon's life,
the ring was fake.

Turned my finger green.

"Green"?

- "Green."
- I'd say it's more of a Torrey pine.

Basically,
it's the same color as this:

the discoloration Ducky found
in Thomas Jennings' duodenum.

As for the finger, that's easy.

Most fake gold is made out of copper,
like this ring.

And when the copper encounters the
natural acids in our sweat, it oxidizes.

It turns the skin green.

Torrey pine.

Captain Jennings' gut is
where it gets interesting.

The ring shows microscopic signs
of acidic deterioration.

- Specifically, deoxycholic acid.
- Intestinal acid.

This ring was
in Thomas Jennings' intestines.

There was no description
of any intestinal obstruction

in Captain Jennings' current
medical records. So I made inquiries.

Finally, I was able
to contact his pediatrician.

When Jennings was five,

he was rushed to the ER...

after swallowing
his mother's engagement ring.

I kid you not.

The doctors deemed
it too dangerous to operate

and elected to wait
until it worked its way out.

But it never did.

No. As the boy grew,
the plicae circulares,

the lining of the boy's duodenum,
simply closed around the ring,

- keeping it in place.
- Who's got access to his records?

Medical records are private, Jethro.

But I doubt this story was.

As family tales go, it's certainly
one of the more captivating.

I'm sure dozens of people
heard the story.

But only one of them's
been lying to us.

We're going over the evidence from
Jennings' house, take a look at that.

You okay?

- You don't have to do this now.
- I know.

You know, don't you?

Why was my father murdered?

Because of this.

A ring?

But it's not just any ring,
is it, Rebecca?

No, it's my grandmother's
engagement ring.

I recognize this from the photos,
but that...

My father was...

For a ring?

- A fake ring.
- That's right.

Grandpa proposed with a glass ring.

Didn't know that part of
the family story, did you, Kev?

Told your buddy, Sykes,
about the ring, did you?

All he had to do was go get it.

- Four carats, hit paid for itself.
- You didn't even get your hands dirty.

Until Sykes found out the ring was fake.
Then what happened?

Did he try to blackmail you, Kev?
Is that why you killed him?

Kevin?

I told them,
I don't know this Sykes guy.

Let's look at some photos.

There's you at a party.
See you?

No, can't see it?
Let's blow it up.

Becky, sweetie, I...

- They put... why would I ever...
- Why?

Because she broke off your engagement.
Because you were desperate.

And killing her father's
supposed to help?

Well, she broke up with you
two years ago, didn't she?

Yeah, when my mom got sick.

And I took you back.

You were hoping history
was going to repeat itself?

- This is insane.
- Unbelievably insane.

And you are a psychopath.

You've just leapfrogged to the top
of our "psychopath of the year" list.

You had my father killed.

- Baby, you know me. I would never...
- You son of a bitch!

How could you?

You didn't give me a choice.

And he really thought it'd work?

Almost did.

Is killing for love really
any different than killing for money?

Speaking of love,

how's that...
cyber-romance going, McGee?

It couldn't be worse.

She sent me another e-mail.

Said she's getting back
together with her ex-boyfriend.

I'll tell you what though.
I'm not giving up on her.

- Wha...?
- No, we got too much in common.

I think she might be scared, but
you know what? We can work through it.

I'm telling you, I think
this girl might really be the one.

Take it.

- Really?
- Sure.

Thanks.

Hey, listen, I hate to ask, but...

Sure. I remember.

$40.
With interest.

Sorry it took so long.

All right, see you guys later.

I didn't tell you
so you could torture him, McGee.

Very well.